Grain-bin.



PATENTED OCT. 15, 1907. W. L. FINTON.

GRAIN BIN.

APPLIOATION FILED un 1s. 190e.

||- ----ille.,

PATENTED 00T W. L. FINTON.

GRAIN BIN.

APPLIOATIONIILBD MAY 1a.

. SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WALTER L. rrNToN, or APP-LETON, WISCONSIN.

GRAIN-B IN.

l No. 867,962'.' i

specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedOct. 15, 1907.

Application filed May 18, Serial No. 317,416.

Appleton, in the county of Outagamie and `State of Wis-y consin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Grain-Bins, oi whichl thefollowing is a description,

reference being had to the' accompanying drawingsl,

which are a part of thisspccilication.

My invention has relation to improvements in grain bins.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a grain tank,preferably lire-proof, subdivided into bins xof such shape that they maybe completely filled and completely discharged by means of spouts. i

Another object of the invention is to provide a grain tank divided intobins, each one of whichirnay be discharged through the side .of thetank, at or near lowest'point of bin, into a spout, or intoany on'e ofsev. eral spoutsf vAnother object ofthe invention is to provide a graintank divided into bins, each bin of a capacity approximating a` car,load, any one of which bins may be dis# charged independently'of theothers, and each oneyof saidfbins being located atthe proper height .tobe discharged into a car, orother device, without further elevating. v fn v A further object of the invention is to provide a grain tank dividedinto bins, each bincapable of containing approximately a car load ofgrain, and any one of which may, 'by means of a conducting spout, bedischarged simultaneously with any number of bins into a commonreceptacle, or on to a moving belt, or to any other form of conveyer,for delivery into' a car, bulk storage tank,

or other receptacle, in a thoroughly blended mass.y

A still further object resides in the arrangement of bins of the abovedescribed characterin a circle, or in square, oblong, or otherconvenient form, whereby the said bins are niade to constitute the sidesof an inclosure which may be covered, thereby making a workinghouse intosome convenient part of which spouts leading from the several bins maybe directed and discharged on to a moving belt, thereby securing a moreperfect blending of a number of-'kinds or qualities ofI grain than is'possible by methods now in use.

With the above, and other incidental, objects in view,

the invention consists of the devices and parts, or their I equivalents,as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is avlongitudinal, vertical,sectional view of 'a grain bin constructed in accordance with myinvention, certain parts being broken away; Fig. 2 is an elevationl ofthe grain bin at ,right angles to Fig. 1, the view illustrating amodification, wherein an endless belt upon which the different dischargespouts are adapted to dischargeis employed; Fig. 3 is a plan. view ofFig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view showing the bins arranged in a gang; and Fig. 5is a view of a modified form ofconstruction.

t Referring to the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates a ",grain tank,preferably of fire-prooi' construction, 'and ,also l preferably ofcylindrical,` forml in cross section, although a bin of elliptical,square, rectangular", or other form in cross section, may be employed,if delsired. The ordinary upright cylindrical fire-prooi grain tank maybe utilized, such as used for storage of bulkgrain. The tank is dividedinto a series of lseparate grain bins by means of sloping or inclinedfloors or partitions. In the drawing I have shown six of these slopingorinclined floors, subdividing the tank into live lgrain bins, indicatedbythe numeral 7. It will be understood that these iioors are arranged soas to slope or be on a gradual decline ,from one side of the tankdownwardlly to the opposite side thereof, so that the highest ypoint ofeach floor is on one sideof'the tank, andthe lowest point of each flooron the opposite side of the tank.

allel with the preceding floor.

Leading to the upper portion of ycaclrbin is a' feed pipe 8, and leadingfrom the-opposite sido of cach bin, from a point just above the flooringand consequently at the lowest point ofthe bin, is a discharge pipe 9.The lower ends of these discharge pipes are' alined in a horizontal'row, and are sufficiently high to provide for discharging into a car, onto a movable. belt, or on to any other form of eonveyer.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, I show one of thedischarge pipes adapted todischarge into an ordinary grain ear ing of said car. In order that thedischarge tube may discharge into the interior of the car, and yet -uotinterfere with the c ars travel on the track to a position to receivethe grain, the discharge end of each tribe terminates a desired distancefrom the track, and 'when the car is run up to position, a short spout11 which may be flexible, is connected to the end of the discharge tube,or if preferred, 'may be non-flexible, and have a swiveled connectionwith the end of the discharge tube', and thereby lengthen said tubesufficiently to cause it to extend into the car through the side openingthereof. x

Fig. 2 of the drawing shows the device arranged to discharge onto atraveling endless belt or conveyor' l2 which passes around a pulley 13,whose axle is journaled in suitable bearings 14- extending from thesupporting. frame of the tank. This belt leads to and around anotherpulley (not shown), andthe grain discharged fromthe belt may be caughtby a chute (not shown) and conveyed by said chute to a car, or to a bulkstorage tank, or ,other receptacle.

The several feed tubes 8 herein before referred to extend upwardly tothe top of the |Itank, where the grain is discharged into them by theordinary means einployed for that purpose. 4

For the purpose of obtaining convenient accessto the 10 (shown in dottedlines) through the usual side openinterior of each bin so that thebinsmay be readily cleaned,l the wall of the tank is provided with anumber of manholes 15, one for each bin, and provided with a suitablecover 16.

Fig. 4 of the drawing shows a gang of five ofthe tanks arranged in acircle,r to form a circular inclosure 20, with an entrance 2l thereto.They may,'however, be arranged in square, oblong, or other form, to formthe sides of an inclosure, and when so arranged may be covered toprovide a working house, iny some convenient part ofwhich spouts leadingfrom the several bins may be directed and discharge onto a moving belt,thereby making possible a more perfect blending of a number of kinds orqualities of grain, and a perfect blending of a greater number ofdifferent kinds or qualities of grain than is possible by methods now inuse.

Each discharge tube is provided with a valve 17. By this provision, onlyone tube at a time may be opened up so as to permit the discharge fromonly one bin, or the valves of several of the tubes may be opened, so asto permit discharge from a plurality of the bins, or all the valves maybe opened so as to permit discharge from all the valves simultaneously.

rIn feeding the grain to the different bins, a means will be provided atthe upper end of each feed spout for delivering .the grain into anyparticular spout, and there are a number pf methods at present employedin elevators which will answer every purpose. In this way the differentbins are filled, and they may be 'emptied by' opening the valves ofthedischarge tubes venient construction is provided, whereby the tank isdivided into separate bins, each, preferably, olf a capacity to hold acar load of grain, and of such shape that they may be completely filledand completely discharged by means of spouts, and the construction isalso such that any one of the bins may be discharged independently ofthe other, pr any number discharged simultaneously., or all the binsdischarged simultaneously, either into a common receptacle, or onto amoving belt, -or other conveyor, for delivery into a car, bulk storagetank, or other receptacle, in a thoroughly blended mass. Furthermore,the invention is of such character as to provide for the arrangement ofthe tanks in the manner shown in Fig. 4 to secure the advantages hereinbefore fully pointed out.

1t will also be observed that with my invention, it is possible to keepgrain that is out of condition, that is, grain which is in a heatedcondition and therefore'compact and incapable of discharging through thedischarge spouts, in separate bins, and removed from said bins by beingshoveled out through the manholes. lf grain which is put of condition isput into a bin with other grain that is in condition, it will result `ingreat damage. structures, it is necessary, when grain is heated and incompact condition, to shovel the grain out from the top, or to sack it.

I'n the operation of elevators, it is customary to weigh the grainbefore itis loaded into a car, in order that the actual weight of thecontents of a car may be known.

I, therefore, in Fig.` 5 of the drawings, show a form of In small binsordinarily employed in wooden construction wherein a number of the binsare located at such height that any one of them may discharge into ascale hopper, from which hopper leads a conduit adapted for discharginginto a car, or into any other desirable receptacle. `In this form of thedevice, three of the bins are shown at such height as to be capable ofdischarging into the scale hopper, and the remaining three of the binsare not sufficiently high to discharge into the Ahopper but are adaptedto discharge onto a moving belt. This weighing hopper is indicated bythe numeral 18, and should be of a capacity sufficient v to weigh a carload in one draft. r This car load may come from one bin, or from anumber of bins. From the converged bottom of the hopper leads a pipe orconduit 19, which is shown as extending through the side opening of thegrain car 10. I y

vr1`he other lower bins shown in Fig. 5 have the dis- 80 charge pipes orspouts 9 thereof extending to ay point just above a movable endless belt20.

While l prefer that 4the bottom of each bin should be on a slant fromone side of the tank to'the other, yet* I desire, at this time, todirect attention to another very important feature of my invention,viz., the means for discharging the bins through the side of the tank,at or near the lowest point of each bin, whereby the grain is sodischarged as to make it possible to direct it to any particular point,by reason of the height or distance from the ground of the point ofdischarge from the bin. lt will be readily appreciated that in carry-"ing'out this object the particular construction ol' the bin bottom asshown in the drawings is not absolutely essential, inasmuch as ahoppered bottom, or any other desired form, willanswer so long as'ameans is provided for discharging the bin through the side o the tank,and at. or ne'ar the lowest point of the bin. Under this constrpctioneach discharge spout leading from a bin may extend outwardly only ashort distance Abeyond the side of the tank, and may be arranged todischarge into any one of a series of pipes leading to different pointsof delivery, either by having a swivclcd extension on the end of thedischarge pipe, or by having the series oi pipes so arranged as to beadjustable in order to bring the upper end of any one of said pipes intoregister with the discharge spout.

What l claim as my invention is:

1. A tank for the storage of grain and the like, consisting of aninclosnre having a plurality of inclined floors, in single planes,forming bins each having one point higher and one point lower than anyother point thereof, each of said bins havingan opening in its side wallat the highest point and another at its lowest point, substantially asdescribed.

2. A tank for the storage of grain and the like. consisting of aninclosure having a plurality of inclined loors, in single planes,forming bins each havingr one point higher and one point lower than anyother point thereof, each of said bins having an opening in its sidewall at the highest point and another at its lowest point, separatefeeding means leading to the opening located at the highest; point ofeach bin, and separate discharging means leading from the openinglocated at the lowest point.

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature, in presence f ltwo witnesses.

WALTER L. FINTON.

Witnesses:

A. L. Monsnnrr, ALMA A. KLUG.

